Following the launch of the new initiative Energy Policy for Europe (EPE) at the spring summit in March 2006, the next challenge facing the Austrian Presidency of the European Union (EU) is to re-launch the European sustainable development strategy bringing together economic, social and environmental objectives and policies. The purpose of this EPSD report is to contribute both to the debate on energy and to the re-launch of the sustainable development strategy. The report includes: 1) An introduction to the sustainability challenges faced by the EU and the need to integrate economic, social and environmental goals and policies into one comprehensive European strategy; 2) A broad overview of resource efficient technologies, focusing on energy technologies, which can contribute to sustainable production and consumption; and, 3) An analysis of public policies for sustainability, including a discussion of how the Commission proposal “A Platform for Action”, together with the Lisbon strategy and the new EU Green Paper on “Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy”, could be developed into a well co-ordinated investment strategy for “smart growth”.

Intermodal road‐rail transport has a medium to high market share for large flows over long distances and for seaport hinterland flows, and competes on cost in these markets with road transport. Due to the small size of this market segment compared to the total transport market the modal shift potential is marginal at best. It is therefore increasingly recognized that the conventional approach to intermodal transport focusing on large flows over long distances may be insufficient to address the persistent problem of a growing modal share of road freight. As a complement to the conventional approach, alternative network operations are needed that allow an intensification of rail services and expansion of geographical coverage. This innovative approach requires fast and efficient transhipment operations, which cannot be achieved by the present conventional terminals since they absorb too much time and money. Hence, technological innovations in the transhipment process will have a major role to play for achieving a modal shift. The raiload technology enables automatic transhipments of standardised loading units below catenaries and thereby makes fast and efficient transhipment operations possible, both for railrail as well as for rail‐road exchange. By that, the technology facilitates the implementation of innovative rail networks. The aim of this research is to analyse how this technological innovation can be integrated in a context of innovative intermodal transport services. The results indicate that fast and efficient transhipment technologies are a prerequisite for intermodal linertrains which can integrate short and medium distance transports in the intermodal system. Linertrains can open business opportunities for operators and cost savings for shippers in a market segment which is dominated by road transport. Furthermore, linertrains can further contribute to reaching policy goals, e.g., lower externalities from freight transport and regional development of far‐off regions. Yet, it is still too early to expect a breakthrough of linertrains. The implementation requires a system innovation but current politics and dominant actors still limit their actions to incremental improvements within the current rail production paradigm and dominant technology based on economies of scale and oppose organisational innovations. However, the fact that the implementation of intermodal linertrains seems to be unrealistic today should not discourage policy makers and stakeholders. System innovations are long‐termprocesses and there are indications that the transition process has started. Continuously increasing freight transport volumes and a significantly increased awareness for sustainable development put the dominating road freight transport paradigm under pressure. As a response, transport politics, transport buyers, and transport operators show an increased interest in intermodal transport. Hence, the current barriers should be seen as challenges to overcome rather than as impediments to progress. To manage the transition towards innovative intermodal transport services and to overcome current barriers, there is a need for connecting the existing dynamics by applying the technological innovation in the existing large‐scale production system. These niche‐applications do not require major changes of transport and logistics structures and can provide room for technological learning and development which is needed to reduce economic uncertainties and risks involved in technological innovations. A promising approach is a new‐generation large scale hub terminal for seaport hinterland flows, since the raiload technology can contribute to solving existing efficiency and capacity problems in this segment of the transport market.

The impact of introducing stricter sulphur limits in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic was modelled using 12 priority corridors operating on these seas. Due to the topography of the Mediterranean coastline and the selection of studied routes, short sea shipping (SSS) was found to be dominant, holding approximately 95% of the market share on the selected routes. This share is an over estimation as rail was not included in this study. The introduction of stricter sulphur limits in 2015 & 2020 will increase SSS costs and hence reduce the SSS market share.

The purpose of this report is to develop and define a container shipping concept – The Short Sea Shuttle Concept. The concept involves transport of containers between a number of ports and a hub port with functional inland connections, fixed schedules, and high reliability and departure frequency. Punctuality and high frequency are essential factors for the shuttles, as it allows a transfer of more time-sensitive cargo to sea, which currently is transported by other modes. The increased importance of shipping in a future transport system means that there are great demands on efficiency, sustainability and economic stability. This research is limited to the transport of maritime containers, but the concept can be applicable to other types of goods and standardised load units. The focus in this report is on the development of the concept for transport of cargo within, to and from Sweden. An implementation of a system of short sea shipping links will bring preparedness for further capacity problems in railway and road infrastructures and will also open up new markets. The Short Sea Shuttle Concept is defined as: ”High-frequency short sea liner shipping of standardised load units that is highly integrated into transport chains with functional inland connections.” The Short Sea Shuttles will be an integrated part of a longer transport chain, requiring a connection to the existing road and railway systems and deep sea services. This allows transport buyers to get better access to their global markets and facilitates adaption of their logistics systems and better planning. If possible, the Short Sea Shuttles links will be established on routes where they can function as a complement to rail. In the context of Scandinavia, this potential would be especially interesting for the extension of existing rail shuttles to Port of Gothenburg with sea links connecting countries and regions surrounding the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. This would also contribute to create seamless intermodal transport solutions combining both rail and sea links. The potential associated with the Short Sea Shuttle concept is substantial. Nevertheless, implementation of the concept is a challenge in many aspects, such as costs, scale, infrastructure, number of actors, and technology. Because of the many different stakeholders involved, a coordinator to facilitate and manage the collaboration and long-term ambitions of a Short Sea Shuttle service is probably needed. Government support at the regional, national and supra-national level is probably needed in the first stage, but the concept need to be independent and solid after the start-up phase.